The Human Side of Leadership

Healthcare professionals are some of the smartest people in the world. Yet burnout, frustration, and emotional exhaustion continue to drive talented clinicians away from the work they love.

In this episode, Dr. Mickey Lebowitz, physician, emotional intelligence expert, and author of The EQ Prescription, explains why the real challenge in healthcare is not a lack of knowledge. It is learning how to manage ourselves when the pressure ...

When patients leave the hospital, the healthcare journey is far from over.

In this episode of The Human Side of Leadership in Healthcare, Dr. Pelè sits down with caregiver advocate and educator Lynnel Townsend to explore one of healthcare's most overlooked challenges: the invisible work of family caregiving.

Drawing from years of professional caregiving experience and deeply personal stories, Lynnel explains how family caregivers oft...

After 40 years as a pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Alan Cohen has seen some of medicine’s most extraordinary miracles and most heartbreaking moments.

In this episode of The Human Side of Leadership in Healthcare, Dr. Pelè sits down with Dr. Cohen, Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins and author of Comfort Always: Healing in the Age of Technology, to explore a question healthcare must continue asking:

As medicine advanc...

Healthcare leadership often struggles when executives and clinicians operate in silos, each seeing the world through different pressures, priorities, and assumptions.

In this episode of The Human Side of Leadership in Healthcare, Dr. Pelè sits down with Jill Bowen and Dr. Elisabeth Fontaine, co-founders of Let’s Lead LLC, to explore what it really takes to build trust, emotional intelligence, and alignment across healthcare te...

What if healthcare systems have been optimizing the wrong thing?

In this episode of The Human Side of Leadership in Healthcare, Dr. Pelè sits down with internationally recognized transplant surgeon, healthcare executive, and author Douglas Slakey to explore why great healthcare outcomes require more than clinical excellence and standardized systems.

Drawing from more than 30 years in transplant surgery and healthcare leadership, Dr. ...

We talk with Renee Thompson about why bullying and incivility in healthcare are not just culture issues, but patient safety risks. She shares how leaders unintentionally reinforce disruptive behavior, what actually happens in the moment when conflict is avoided, and how organizations can operationalize respect at scale.

• why incivility has always impacted patient outcomes, even when ignored
 • the hidden patterns leaders mi...

We talk with Teri Renfrow about why strategy often breaks down at the point of execution in healthcare, and what it really takes to move from pilot to full-scale adoption.

Teri shares how frontline experience, not just technology, determines success, and why storytelling paired with measurement is the key to building trust, driving behavior change, and sustaining results across complex systems.  

• why well-designed initiative...

In this episode of The Human Side of Leadership in Healthcare, Dr. Pelè speaks with October Ambrose, Vice President of People Partnerships and Engagement at Central Health, about what culture actually looks like inside a mission-driven healthcare organization.

They explore why culture is not something leaders define once, but something teams build and experience every day through behavior, especially under pressure.

October shares ho...

In this episode, Dr. Pelè speaks with Vanessa McNeal about what really drives burnout and performance under pressure.

They explore how leaders unknowingly operate in survival states like fight-or-flight and shutdown, and why this isn’t a motivation problem, but a nervous system and safety issue. Vanessa shares practical tools leaders can use in real moments, from simple awareness practices to quick physiological resets, along ...

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Russell Robinson about why the transition into college mirrors what new hires experience in high-pressure environments like healthcare.

We explore how emotional intelligence shapes performance under stress, and how AI coaching can help people build self-awareness, manage pressure, and show up better in real moments.

• first-year transition as a proving ground for emotional intelligence
• a simple fram...

In this episode, we unpack how trust, purpose, and people-first leadership power real culture change, and how AI can scale feedback, belonging, and performance without losing the human edge.

Gena Pirtle, founder of The People Equation and former global HR leader at Cisco, shares practical insights on redesigning HR, strengthening retention, and building cross-sector talent ecosystems for the future of work.

In this co...

Most leadership breakdowns are not failures of intelligence or strategy. They are emotional failures.

In this episode of the Leadership AI Podcast, Maggie Sass, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Product, Research, and Professional Services at TalentSmart EQ, explores how emotional intelligence functions as the operating system beneath strategy, coaching, and decision-making.

Together, we unpack what it really means to treat leadersh...

Do you want to discover the secret recipe to align company and employee needs and create a harmonious and profitable work environment? 

Pull up a chair because today's guest, Paul ter Wal, author and president of the Virtual Speakers Association International, is here to share his transformational journey and insights on just that. 

Whether you're a CEO of a Fortune 500 company or a small start-up, Paul's pr...

Are you ready to revolutionize your leadership style? 

Join us as we host Tiffany Houser, a seasoned leadership and team culture expert. 

Tiffany will unpack the concept of human-centric leadership that champions people and relationships. 

Discover how empowering our sense of self-worth and nurturing honesty, authenticity, and vulnerability can transform your leadership style and team performance...

Ever felt the weight of leadership loneliness? 

Fret not, as we bring you an enlightening conversation with Jonathan Bennett, an executive coach and trusted advisor who unpacks how executive coaching is a potent remedy for this isolation. 

Jonathan shares his journey through the worlds of business and social purpose, offering insights into how organizations can align their values with their employees for a h...

What if the key to a highly profitable business lies in the engagement and happiness of its employees?

This question is at the heart of our enlightening conversation with our esteemed guest, international author, speaker, and award-winning coach, Kon Apostolopoulos.

Throughout our discussion, we dive headfirst into the seas of engagement, using Coach Kon's decade-long experience with a construction company as the com...

Ever wonder why communication breakdowns seem to be a perpetual cycle in organizations? 

Join me as I get to the heart of this issue with the dynamic Marsha Acker, CEO and principal at Team Catapult. 

With her unique expertise, Marsha highlights how we can initiate the solution from within ourselves just by 'reading the room' and identifying when we're stuck in an endless loop of redundant conversations.&nbs...

What if you could tap into the ancient philosophy of eudaimonic happiness to create a thriving, engaged and productive work culture?

That's exactly what we're discussing with Dr. Alise Cortez interviewing Dr. Pelè, in this eye-opening episode.

Drawing on the lessons of resilience, joy, and determination from his war-torn African upbringing, Dr. Pelè shares his belief that happiness is not a result of success but the...

Imagine a workplace where everyone gets to tell their story, and where everyone feels a sense of belonging.

Sounds utopian, right?

Brace yourself for an enlightening conversation with Maria Morukian, acclaimed author of the book, "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Trainers."

We delve into her journey of becoming a voice for the voiceless and her commitment to ensuring every story gets told, and every voice ...